OREANDA-NEWS. January 28, 2013. Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmic briefed on Thursday that in the framework of the round negotiators discussed conditions of medicine imports, matters of compliance of sanitary and phyto-sanitary norms, duration of transition periods and amounts of customs duties on sensitive and very sensitive commodity groups, such as industrial and agricultural products.

Reviewing results of five rounds of the talks, Octavian Calmic pointed out that up to date the legal texts of the agreement had been coordinated, all facets connected with the services area have been agreed and establishment of customs duties on agricultural and industrial production in transition periods (up to 10 and up to 7 years respectively) had been coming to its end. According to him, majority of 9.7 thousand commodity points, discussed by negotiators, will be freely admitted to the EU market with no customs duties imposed.

To 30 commodity groups, including the fruit, vegetables, wine, meat and dairy products, which never been imported to the EU due their incompliance with European standards, transition periods and tariff quotas will be applied. The matter of import of medicines, generics in particular, will be additionally discussed after consultations with representatives of the pharmaceutical branch of the EU. Negotiators managed to find a compromise on one of the most complicated block of the talks – sanitary and phyto-sanitary norms compliance to which makes it possible to export Moldovan plant and animal products to the EU, Octavian Calmic said. The next round of the talks is held in Brussels on March 11-15, 2013.

According to Octavian Calmic, the agreement is planned to be signed till the end of this year. By this moment, the text of the agreement has to be translated into all 26 official languages of the EU and coordinated with each member of the European Union.